Why hasn't ABC/Disney caved? This is bizarre. [View All]

[iconoclastic cat]

So, I don't have to tell all of you what's already on DU about "The Path to 9/11" -- obviously, this film is under heavy assault from all angles. Go to Daily Kos, too, and you'll see some great work done on this, most interestingly that the film also slanders and defames American Airlines!

Disney/ABC's Conservative 9/11 Fan Fiction Also Defames American Airlines

Uh-oh. Disney may have to do more editing, according to AMERICAblog's John Aravosis:

s I first noted yesterday, I have the entire "Path to 9/11" video. And one of the very first scenes makes it explicitly clear that American Airlines had Mohammad Atta in its grasp, warning lights flashing on the computer screen, yet the airline simply blew off the threat and helped Atta kill 3,000 Americans.

Unfortunately, it's a total lie.

Here's what the "Path to 9/11" claims American Airlines did on the morning of September 11. According to Disney/ABC, American Airlines had Mohammad Atta at its ticket counter and a warning came up on the screen when he tried to check in. The AA employee called a supervisor who kind of shrugged and said, blithely, just let him through. The first employee, shocked, turned to her supervisor and said, shouldn't we search him? The American Airlines supervisor responds, nah, just hold his luggage until he boards the plane. The scene is clearly intended to make American Airlines look negligent.

Only problem? It never happened.

First off, Disney/ABC got the airport wrong. The warning for Mohammad Atta's ticket popped up in Portland, Maine, not at Boston Logan as the tv show claims (this is on page 1 of the September 11 Commission report).

Second, the security rules at the time said nothing about searching a passenger who has a "warning" pop up, they only required that the bags be held until the passenger boarded. The Disney/ABC tv show, on the other hand, clearly tries to imply that American Airlines violated the security rules in letting Atta go. This simply isn't true. (This is also on page 1 of the report.)

But most importantly, Disney/ABC implicated the wrong airline.

My questions: WHY the fuck haven't they pulled it? They know they'll be sued--WTF? What does Disney stand to gain that is worth lawsuits, investigations, national boycotts, and a legacy of infamy?